Symptoms of a Spirit of Fear:

• Dr. I sleep all night but I wake up exhausted?
• Do you have trouble sleeping or getting to sleep at night?
• Do you find it difficult to concentrate on your job, schoolwork or projects?
• Do you ever have cold hands or cold feet when it is warm?
• When you watch TV or just sitting, do you play with your hair, moving your legs like tapping, or hands?
• Do you have a hard time relaxing or feel unable to relax or even feel guilty if the house is not perfect?
• Fear of contamination or dirt? And excessively wash your hands all the time?
• Can you never find time for yourself?
• Encouraging ‘nervous’ behavior such as twitching, fiddling, talking too much, nail biting, teeth grinding, pacing, and other repetitive habits
• Do you have fear with relationships (same sex or opposite sex)?
• You are afraid of not being perfect and stress and driven fear of failure, fear of critisism?
• Do suffer from high blood pressure, high colesteral, asthma, anxiety, skin diseases, compromised immune system, heart issues, lung issues like chronic brontititis, insomnia, mental diseases, OCD, bipolar, depression, hopelessness, ?

Guess what you have a spirit of fear operating in your life!

What is stress?  Stress is a spirit of fear operating.  There are two kinds of fear.  External circumstances around us that goes away or internal issues of the past, many times subsconscious level. There is everyday stress and there is long-term stress that does not go away what we call stuck in fight or flight.  Some stress is good stress to get out of danger, jogging, parachuting out of planes (adrenaline junkie).

The term “stress” is short for distress, a word evolved from Latin taht means “to draw or pull apart.”  The Romans even used the term districtia to describe “a being torn asunder” when stress out. Effecting “YOU” Physically, Mentally, Emotionally and Physically – Mind, Body biolgically and Spirit.

The Characteristics of fear is that it projects into the future, fear is the opposite of God’s character, fear trains you in its demonic nature, fear manipulates, fear has impact in your memory. Fear is doubt and unbelief, not trusting God for your situation.

Fear – Opposite of Faith = Sin

Normal stress graph.  Stress that we give to God, or goes away:

The natural regulations of your body during stress.

Example: Scarry Movie or Snake in your path and you jump out of its way (external).  Your heart races, you breath harder, tense all over, close your eyes, you may even pace during the scary part of the movie.  After movie is over, your body goes back to normal.   Our body is made to go back to state of balance: After danger/trigger is gone you go back to “Homeostasis”, danger out of the way. Your body goes back to peace.  We are fearfully and wonderfully made.

• Anyone who has gone to war
• Growing up in ghetto neighborhood, unsafe or threatening – today bullying in the schools
• Sexual Abuse, verbal abuse, physical abuse
• Survivor of extreme weather tornadoes, hurricanes, fires, etc.
• Witnessing murder or crime
• Growing up on eggs not knowing what will cause the parent to be triggered and spew anger
• Major traumatic event (being locked up in closet, major car wreck, attacked by a dog at an early age)
• Not loved properly, like neglect, not liked in the home – escape goat.
• Ritual abuse
• Incarcerated parents – sudden separation from their sole caregiver – 22% in America
• Growing up with addicted parents or criminal parents hid from your friends afraid of being rejected
• During child birth
• Generational inherited iniquities

External we can control.

We are to not carry problems or burdens (fears, problems, worries) but cast our cares to the Lord because he cares for us (internal). 1 Peter 5:7.

Bad Stress, Stuck in Fight or Flight, Programmed by a Spirit of Fear

These are internal thoughts of spirit of fear/Stuck.

These symptoms largely correspond to the “re-living” – record, replay programming with the spirit of fear – you have become one with fear and “hyper-arousal” categories of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) in the Diagnostic and Mental Disorders – Internal Stresses.

• anxiety, agitation, jittery/restless feelings, irritability, outbursts of anger
• hands feet cold
• tendency to over-react, violate boundaries, etc.
• impulsive, inability to stay/commit to relationships/jobs/projects (i.e., still on the run)
• jumpiness, hyper-vigilance (i.e., on guard, ready to react), worrying that is disproportionate to the
• panic attacks, anxiety attacks, phobias
• flashbacks, recurring thoughts and memories of the event/experience
• difficulty resting like watching TV or relaxing or sleeping, insomnia, nightmares
• muscular tension, physical pain caused by emotional pain
•  self-harming and “other-harming” behaviors to manage the above symptoms
• generalized fear/anger/distrust of individuals and institutions
• inability to fully relax/rest without feeling unprepared to face daily encounters

Basically, a person did not grow up feeling safe at home and lives in survival mode unconsciously.  When that happens your body is stuck continuously releasing “Cortisol” the death hormone.  Cortisol damages the hippocampus, limbic part of the brain which is the central learning memory center.  You feel anger, confused, fuzzy headed, anxious (might have anxiety attacks) over relationships or places, threatened and feel unsafe like a stranger living inside you – a spirit called “FEAR”.

What did you experience in your life to cause a spirit of fear to control you?

• Anyone who has gone to war
• Growing up in ghetto neighborhood, unsafe or threatening – today bullying in the schools
• Sexual Abuse, verbal abuse, physical abuse
• Survivor of extreme weather tornadoes, hurricanes, fires, etc.
• Witnessing murder or crime
• Muggings
• Growing up on eggs not knowing what will cause the parent to be triggered and spew anger
• Major traumatic event (being locked up in closet, major car wreck, attacked by a dog at an early age)
• Not loved properly, like neglect, not liked in the home – escape goat.
• Ritual abuse
• Incarcerated parents – sudden separation from their sole caregiver – 22% in America
• Growing up with addicted parents or criminal parents hid from your friends afraid of being rejected
• During child birth
• Generational inherited iniquities and
• many more scenarious or life experiences.

How does a spirit of fear come in?  All the above are traumatic events – dooroint to a spirit of fear – networking with rejection, unloving spirits, biterness, underlings: fear of man, fear of rejection, drivenness, unclean sirits, spirit guides, etc.  The the spirit of fear programs you to be stuck, full of fear, no peace, because he wants to Kill, Steal and Destroy.  John 10:10

Many people under stress cope in different ways:

• Emotional eating: overeating or under eating
• Numb out in front of a TV
• Type A personality
• procrastination / putting off (avoidance) – fear of failure
• addictive or unhealthy behavior – smoke more, drink
• distorted thinking
• aggression on the road
• compulsive spending
• sleep more

What do you do when you are stressed.  If stuck in fight or flight, your body is rigid and blood vessels narrow (high blood pressure), stomock is tense (acid reflux, ulcers, etc.), heart damage.  The Leading Causes of Death in the U.S. is Heart Disease: 

Over 64 million Americans have some form of cardiovascular disease.  Every 34 seconds someone in America dies of a heart attack.  –  Luke 21:26 tells us in the last days, men’s hearts will fail them because of fear.

Many other diseases: cancer, diabetes, insomnia, etc.  The Word of God says “Fear Not” 365 times.  Gen. 15:1, Deut. 20:3, Josh 8:1, Ruth 3:11, Is. 35:1, Jer. 46:27, DAn 10:19, Zech 8:13, Matt. 10:28, Luke 113, Acts: 27:24, Rev. 1:17

Question:

Am I In Control of Stress or Stress Controlling Me!  Don’t miss this week’s class.  After class, break for lunch, then a time of ministry to destroy that Spirit of Fear. Jesus did not give us a spirit of fear but of sound mind.  It is time to trust God for our circumstances Heb. 11:1 – “Now faith is the substance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.”  It is that knowing God is in control when we give it to Him.